I kept getting mixed up with Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds, and got really excited then disappointed when I heard about Outer Worlds 2, thinking that Outer Wilds was getting a sequel. So it was always a bummer to me even without actually playing the game.
Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, Mass Effect Andromeda, Dragon Age Veilguard - each one of these games were touted for their improved combat, at least improved movement. That’s not to say any are great, just that they’re not as clunky as previous games. They are not standout in that regard. So for Bioware and Obsidian, it is still the case that their draw is writing in a higher budget RPG than the startup indie scene. Pretty much where Owlcat is now getting to with Warhammer and the Expanse licensed games, that’s where Bioware and Obsidian were 20-25 years ago. Narrative games
Bioware and Obsidian games aren’t so fun to play to appeal with mediocre writing. I think like an 80+% reduction of irony, snark, sarcasm, eye rolls, modern slang, knods to modern culture would do wonders for their games writing. Don’t have to get rid of all of it. Just have them be more fun finds in a dialog tree that make them memorable and each high quality while the rest of the narrative takes itself seriously. I’ll 5 great jokes over 100, “ehh I get it. I guess that’s funny.”
Call this what you like. Echo effect (previous entry was bad, and so people avoid the very good sequel), $70 price tag…in my case, it was Microsoft nosediving harder than usual on all fronts, including literally bombing children, making it an easy decision to boycott them.
God man, shits so sad but I’d be lying if I said I was surprised at all. The first one was very OK, like it was certainly a game that I played and bothered completing. They were very lucky someone had the idea to make Parvati in the first game, the rest of the crew was a snooze fest (at least for me). But then I see the shitty commercial they made for the companions in the 2nd game, and no fucking wonder it didn’t sell! They tell you nothing, play that god awful song over some shitty footage and crack a joke about how none of them are romance-able. They then charge 80 bucks, and make fun of you if you pay for their premium edition, yea go fuck yourself obsidian, and stop taking credit for new Vegas, none of those team members are still around.
Might just be me but… I really like the companions in the Outer Worlds 2. They’re way better than the first game. The inability to romance them was actually a selling point to me, because I assumed that meant each character’s arc would focus on their own story unrelated to their relationship with the player, like in New Vegas.
So far, I’ve loved how Inez especially expands on the history of Auntie’s Choice. There’s one companion that’s just a little goofy, but I also don’t know how you’d do that character without making them extremely naive.
The game as a whole actually is much more fleshed-out than the first, at least thus far (halfway through). I highly recommend getting it on a sale.
I’m afraid you’re conflating “Fallout” with “Bethesda”. Fallout 1&2 are peak Fallout, and they are neither shallow nor janky. Well, maybe slightly janky but more in the sense of “dated” than Bethesda type jank.
I remember getting it because the hype around it being better at RPG storytelling than Fallout 4 which was still new was the number one thing I heard about it.
While it is better written, I’ll give it that, it very much suffers from the same lack of interesting choices that Fallout 4 has. You have rebel, capitalist, and maybe sometimes a neutral 3rd option. Having two of those three choices just make one side happy and the other mad at you isn’t exactly the kind of depth I was hoping for.
And the action is pretty mid at best, while Fallout 4 I have pretty much always thought of as a pretty damn good looter shooter where it fails at being a halfway decent RPG.
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